Title: TraditionsRating: PGCharacters: Dean, Mary, Sam, and a couple mentions of JohnWarnings: Er...schmoop? I don't know. *eyes fic* Well, I'm a bit worried about characterization too, but I'm always worried about that so...Summary: Over the years, one Winchester tradition sticks with Dean and Sam.Disclaimer: All thing Supernatural belong to Eric Kripke. The song, Mary Did You Know? belongs (originally) to Mark Lowry.Author's Note: Yes, this is a religious song and yes, I decided to use it for fic. No offense is meant though. This isn't a song fic either, only a couple of lyrics in particular inspired this and I've used those to separate each section. The only lyric that may need an explanation is that first one (which I split in two) and that's used just because it reminds me of when Dean and Sam were kids and that scene from the pilot where she kisses them good night. The last lyric is pretty easy when you consider what the boys do. (And how sad is it that I can't even listen to Christmas songs without going, "Oooh! Fic!"? Yeesh.) I came into it a bit late, but this was written for spn_hols for prompt #1: hot chocolate. Hope you enjoy and feedback is always welcome!

Mary, did you know...

Mary looked down at the picture Dean was holding out to her, pride shining on his little face, and smiled. Carefully, she lifted him so that he was sitting next to her on the couch.

“Look, Mommy,” he said. She smoothed the hair away from his face.

“I see it, baby.”

Dean’s grin lit up the room as he pointed at the paper. “See? That’s Daddy and that’s you and that’s me and that’s the baby,” he told her, pointing at the scribbled little stick person that she was holding and Mary could have sworn that the love she felt for her son at that moment was going to cause her to burst. He looked up at her, waiting to see what she thought.

“I love it.” She bent down and kissed his forehead.

“Do you think the baby likes it?”

Mary laughed. Dean always wanted to know more about the baby. Did the baby like chocolate? Was the baby going to like him? When was the baby coming so they could play?

“You bet he does.”

Dean’s smile grew. “You promise?”

“I promise. Now, why don’t we go hang this on the fridge so Daddy can see it when he gets home?” She stood, smoothing her top over her slightly rounded stomach. “Come on, we’ll have some hot chocolate while we wait,” she added. Dean nodded, already running for the kitchen and Mary couldn’t stop the amused shake of her head as she followed.

Hot chocolate was her and Dean’s daily ritual as they waited for John to come home. Humming softly, she began to take out the pot to heat the milk as Dean chattered on about the pictures he was going to draw for her, for Daddy, and for the baby. She listened to her son, nodding and answering when needed, content in the knowledge that life was good.

When you kiss your little baby, you kiss the face of God?

“Bang!”

Mary laughed as Sam dropped a toy from his high chair and Dean added the sound effects. Dean had taken to being a big brother in no time. If someone took a picture of him, he insisted that they take a picture of his brother next. Never was Sammy to be excluded.

“Mommy, can we have hot chocolate now?”

“Hot chocolate, hm? Don’t you have enough chocolate from last night?” she asked.

Dean looked down at all his Halloween candy, studying it for a moment, before looking back up at her. “No,” he said, shaking his head and Mary couldn’t help but laugh again.

“All right. We’ll start hot chocolate early this year.”

“Can Sammy have some too?”

She shook her head, fighting back a smile at the frown that appeared on Dean’s face at that answer. “Not right now he can’t.”

“Why not?”

“He’s too small. When he gets bigger he can have some. And then all three of us will sit here and drink hot chocolate together.”

Dean thought about this. “Will he be big enough tomorrow?”

Mary smiled and ruffled his hair as she put Sam’s toy back on his tray. “No, honey.”

“But doesn’t he get bigger tomorrow?”

“In a way. Tomorrow he turns six months old.” She placed a kiss on the top of his head. “Now why don’t you tell Sammy what Halloween is all about?” She chuckled as she pulled out the milk and listened to her oldest explain to his little brother which candy was the best.

Oh, Mary, did you know?

His dad was out on another hunt and that left Dean to watch out for Sammy. Dean grabbed the blanket off the back of the chair and wrapped it around his shivering brother. He rubbed his hands up and down Sam’s arms a few times, hoping to warm him up and wishing that the heater hadn’t given out earlier.

“Better?” he asked, shifting as he pulled his sleeves over his hands. Sam nodded, dimples peeking out and Dean grinned.

“Can we watch a movie?”

Dean glanced at the clock. Dad had said that he’d only be gone for a few hours but he was pretty sure they still had time for a movie.

Besides it was Christmas break so it wasn’t like they had school or anything.

He glanced down at his brother and the hopeful look on his face and nodded, a burst of warmth flooding him when he saw the way Sammy’s face lit up as if he was the best big brother in the world. (And Dean figured he was because Sammy had said so plenty of times and he’d heard his teacher say sometimes when things get said enough and enough people believed it, it came true.)

Something flashed in his memory and he set up the movie. “I’ll be right back, okay?”

“Where are you going?” Sam had already sat up, ready to protest that Dean couldn’t go and leave him.

“The kitchen. I’m going to get something we need for the movie.”

“Oh.” Sam nodded and settled back in the chair, wiggling around until he was curled up in the corner.

Dean ran back into the kitchen, pulling out the milk and the cups. They didn’t have any chocolate to melt but that was okay because he was pretty sure he wouldn’t be able to do it the way Mom had. But at the store the other day, he’d managed to sneak a box of Swiss Miss and a bag of marshmallows into the basket and his dad hadn’t said anything. He poured the milk, putting it in the microwave and heating it up as he got the packets of chocolate powder and the marshmallows out.

Once the milk had finished heating, he stirred in the chocolate and dumped in a handful of marshmallows for each cup. Nodding in satisfaction, he threw out the packets, put the marshmallows away, and headed back into the living room with the cups. Sammy was still curled up in the chair, eyes bright as he stared at the TV. He turned when he saw Dean and brightened.

“Look, Dean! Snoopy’s coming on!”

Dean glanced over at the screen where a cheery announcer let them know that A Charlie Brown Christmas was going to be on next.

“You want to watch that?” he asked, already knowing the answer before Sam nodded. “Then we’ll leave it on there. Move the blanket over, will you?”

Sam shoved at the blanket until it was bunched at his side, beaming when Dean climbed in the chair next to him and handed him his cup.

“Wait for it to cool off a bit so you don’t burn yourself, okay, Sammy?”

Sam nodded again, concentrating on holding the cup steady with both hands. Dean smiled a bit and then reached over and grabbed the blanket, spreading it over the two of them, as the show started. And for a moment, Dean remembered nights from long ago when it was just him and Mom waiting for Dad to come home while drinking hot chocolate. He remembered a couple of nights after Sammy had been born when it had been the three of them waiting and now that it was just him and Sammy, he wrapped a protective arm around his little brother, who just grinned up at him, curling into his side, before turning back to the screen.

Mary, did you know that your baby boy would save our sons and daughters?

“What are you doing?” Dean asked, staring at his brother as he shrugged out of his jacket after a hunt. He frowned at the scratch on his arm. Damn bastard had gotten him but he and Sam had managed to get rid of the thing before anyone else had gotten hurt. He figured he and Sam were lucky that they’d gotten out of this with only a few cuts each.

“Snoopy’s on.” Sam gestured at the screen from where he was stretched out on the hotel bed.

“Yeah, I see that. Why are you watching it?” Not that Dean didn’t already know the answer. Ever since the first year that they’d watched it, curled up together in a chair, Sam had made sure he didn’t miss it. Briefly, he wondered if Sam had kept up the tradition while he’d been away at Stanford. He brushed that thought away and swore that he’d never reveal that he had.

Sam faltered. “Well, because…oh, shut up.”

Dean smirked and shook his head. “I’m giving you crap, Sam.” He hesitated, realizing that Sam had inadvertently answered his question. And since he knew Sam had watched it... “Besides, you’re doing it wrong.”

“There’s a wrong way to watch TV?” Sam asked. “What, am I sitting the wrong way or something?”

He shook his head. “If you’re going to be watching this, you’re going to need something else.” He waited to see if Sam would get it and then rolled his eyes when he didn’t. “Hot chocolate, dude.” He shook his head and muttered something about college making Sam dumber instead of smarter.

“Okay, first, we don’t have hot chocolate. And second,” Sam picked up one of the pillows and threw it at Dean. “Bite me.”

Dean let out a small laugh, catching the pillow and tossing it back. He turned and dug around in his bag, pulling out a small tin and a bag of marshmallows. Ignoring the look on Sam’s face, he took out a couple of cups he’d grabbed earlier, as well as spoons. He turned the faucet on, turning the hot water on full blast. Once he could see the steam, he filled the cups, hissing when some splashed on him. Then, switching off the faucet and mixing the chocolate in, he covered the entire surface of each with marshmallows before walking over to where Sam sat.

“Move over, you giant. Your freakishly long legs are taking up all the room.”

Sam stared at him for a moment, face blank, and then he grinned, moving over so that Dean could sit by him.

“You burn yourself and I’m going to laugh my ass off,” Dean told him, handing him his cup. Sam’s lips twitched as he nodded, wrapping his hands around the cup and letting the warmth seep into him as he turned back to the screen. Dean kicked off his shoes and settled back, next to Sam, holding his own cup as they sat shoulder to shoulder and watched the story of Charlie Brown and his friends play on the screen.

This was abolsutely perfect. Wee!Dean and Wee!Sam, and Mary, and hot chocolate and OMG!BIG BROTHER ADORABLENESS...and then following the boys through various times in their lives, linking everything with the hot chocolate...GOD, I LOVE YOU. Not to mention the lyrics fic hauntingly well.

You have no idea how much I grinned at your comment, hee! Thanks so much! (And OMG! Sarah! There's a prompt for snow forts. If that doesn't scream wee!Winchesters, I don't know what does. And the candy cane one. And the stocking one. And KITTENS!)

......oh man, why do I get the feeling I just created my own little wee!Winchesters Christmas 'verse or something?

And yes, I heard the song and that lyric about saving sons and daughters would not leave me alone. It was the whole starting point. And oops, I meant to leave a link to the song (or at least, one of the versions) and completely forgot! LOL. But if you did want to hear the song, I can still post one, just let me know.

Awwww that was so cute! I loved the way you tied the beginning with the ending and the way that hot chocolate was a running them throughout their lives for comfort etc. That ending just kills me. It's so cute.

Am DEAD FROM CUTE. Oh, Dean, honey. *cuddles them and pets their hair* I never ever read kidfic until this fandom, and now I'm trying not to bawl because Mary and Sammy and Dean is the best big brother ever, and ohgod I love your Dean a lot, how he just quietly and easily takes care of Sam probably without even really realizing he's doing it, because yes.This whole fic was very snuggly and warm and exactly what I needed this extremely stressful week, so thank you.

Oh, and that's one of my favorite Christmas songs, and now I have been obligated to put Clay Aiken's version on repeat. (Shaddup, it's awesome and it was handy in my iTunes.) I like the way you picked out the specific lines to tie in with the fic scenes... it pulled the story together and gave it that extra bit of Christmasness. Is that a word? Anyway, yes, you rock, dude. :D

Oh wow, thank you so much for such a great comment! I'm so glad this fic could help with a stressful week. (I am sorry you're trying not to bawl though, lol.)

ohgod I love your Dean a lot

Grinning over here. Like crazy. Because you like my Dean and the way he acts! *spins*

Yes! It's one of my favorites too! Also, you want to know a secret? *whispers* I was listening to the Clay Aiken version when I wrote the second and fourth sections. For the first and third? I don't actually know who was singing that version...some lady. But listening to the Clay Aiken version is nothing to be ashamed of. I did it too!

....or maybe we'll both end up defending our choice...hm...

Thanks again! (And yes. Christmasness is a word. And if it wasn't, it is now because hee! It's fun to say!)

Good job with the prompt. I so love the image of the boys sharing hot chocolate, both when they were little and as adults. The moments between Dean and Mary were nice, too.

And I love that song you quoted. I’ve always loved it. :)

Favorite lines:

Mary laughed. Dean always wanted to know more about the baby. Did the baby like chocolate? Was the baby going to like him? When was the baby coming so they could play? Mary laughed. Dean always wanted to know more about the baby. Did the baby like chocolate? Was the baby going to like him? When was the baby coming so they could play?

Aww, Dean’s enthusiasm is too cute.

Dean had taken to being a big brother in no time. If someone took a picture of him, he insisted that they take a picture of his brother next. Never was Sammy to be excluded.

I love that he became a great brother overnight. *squishes him*

When he gets bigger he can have some. And then all three of us will sit here and drink hot chocolate together.”

Dean thought about this. “Will he be big enough tomorrow?”

*g*

Ever since the first year that they’d watched it, curled up together in a chair, Sam had made sure he didn’t miss it. Briefly, he wondered if Sam had kept up the tradition while he’d been away at Stanford. He brushed that thought away and swore that he’d never reveal that he had.

Face it, Dean. You’re a softie where Sam’s concerned. (And I love that Sam watched it all those years, too.)

Not too many people that I know actually know that song so I was going to post a link in case anyone wanted to hear it and then I forgot. *facepalm* Oops.

So glad you liked the Dean and Mary moments because it's always fun to play around with what life was like before the demon. And thanks for pointing out your favorite lines, you picked some of my favorite moments! (I just picture Dean asking endless questions about when the baby will get there because he wants to be a big brother now. LOL.)

He so did! And I bet Dean teases him about it every chance he gets. (And then Sam will get really annoyed and Dean will bet him that he can't still do the Snoopy dance and Sam will prove that TOTALLY can!)

Hee! This is so much fun, thanks for thinking of it! (And for reading! LOL.)

Oh. *gurgles happily* That was so lovely. I love that they both kept up the tradition. And: “You burn yourself and I’m going to laugh my ass off,” Hee, oh, that line is so perfect in so many ways. :D The song lyrics fit perfectly with the story. Nicely done. And now I'm craving some hot chocolate. . .